The Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley

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Book Reviews of The Hero and the Crown

Book Review: 3 Reasons Why You Should Read It
Summary: 5 Stars

But for those who can read fantasy, they'll find a young woman who has had to learn self reliance, practically from the first chapter. She actually does face the dragon no one else can. And the story doesn't end with her cataclysmic fight. The perfect prince doesn't exist, rather there are two very real men that both love the main character. McKinley doesn't waste time on creating the fairy tale ending - or rather, she complicates every traditional fantasy assumption.

1. The writing. There are writers who have great content, but use words unimaginatively; there are writers who have a delicate and subtle grasp on language, but have boring or atrocious stories; and there are those, rare and few, who can do both. Create human characters and beautiful prose. McKinley is one of them. She is a true prose writer - some of her writing verges on poetry. Every line is constructed with a particular cadence and measure. That, itself, is worth the reading. Most authors can't keep up that kind of style.

2. The story. There's everything right with a story that starts out conventionally wrong. Some critics say this book doesn't get going until the middle. They're totally misguided: the story starts the reader with enough questions to choke a horse (the best way to begin, to challenge interest, to retain a reader). Its structure is well developed and unique. The extended flashback that comprises the first act of the book is masterful. McKinley unfolds a tale, rather than wasting pages and pages on exposition.

3. The characters. Don't exist in a vacuum. Aren't archetypes. Have moods. Can hold two thoughts in their head at once. Have consistent personalities. Act impulsively. The good ones are people you'd like to get to know better. And, honestly, in a genre that continues to be dominated by sword toting men and the women who follow them, this is a book about a girl who chooses her own way. Who doesn't shy from the right (but dangerous, scary, and painful) path. As a woman it does get tiring reading the male perspective day in and day out.

Oh hell. Go out and buy it. You'll find it absolutely worthwhile.

Classics by Age Books

• Books > Subjects > Children's Books
• Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy & Magic
• Literature & Fiction
• Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy